SEARCHSYSTEMATIC_REVIEWpublic health, obstetrics and gynecology

systematic_review·public health, obstetrics and gynecology, systematic review, nutrition, epidemiology·PMC10173967

Self-care interventions for preconception, antenatal, intrapartum and postpartum care: a scoping review

BMJ Open · 10 authors, 5 centres

AI SUMMARY

FIDELITY 100%

POPULATIONWomen preparing to get pregnant, currently pregnant, giving birth, or in the postpartum period

INTERVENTIONSelf-care tools, resources, or strategies (112 interventions across 11 categories including diet/nutrition, physical activity, psychosocial strategies, lifestyle adjustments, self-testing/sampling, and self-management of medication)

COMPARISONNot applicable (scoping review; no comparator)

This summary was generated by AI from a single paper. It has not been reviewed by a clinician and is not clinical advice. Verify against the source before acting on it.

AGENT 01 · STRUCTURED SUMMARY

TRACE TO SOURCE

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TL;DR

This scoping review mapped 580 studies on self-care interventions across the full spectrum of maternity care, identifying 112 interventions in 11 categories. Most interventions were implemented during antenatal care with health system support, concentrated in diet/nutrition, physical activity, and psychosocial strategies, while research gaps exist in preconception self-care, self-testing, and self-management of medications.

Full summary

833 CHARS

Self-care interventions were inductively organised into 11 categories, with 45% from high-income countries and 76% set in the antenatal period. The most studied categories were diet and nutrition (26%), physical activity (24%), psychosocial strategies (18%), and other lifestyle adjustments (17%). Outcomes most commonly evaluated included neonatal outcomes (31%), maternal mental health (26%), and labour outcomes (22%). Many interventions required initial health system engagement, with 44% delivered at health facilities and 38% involving health workers. The review did not critically appraise or meta-analyse evidence; total study counts do not correlate with evidence quality or effectiveness. This review provides a comprehensive research landscape to guide future systematic reviews and primary research on maternal self-care.

PICO

PPOPULATION

Women preparing to get pregnant, currently pregnant, giving birth, or in the postpartum period

IINTERVENTION

Self-care tools, resources, or strategies (112 interventions across 11 categories including diet/nutrition, physical activity, psychosocial strategies, lifestyle adjustments, self-testing/sampling, and self-management of medication)

OOUTCOME

Neonatal outcomes, maternal mental health and quality of life, labour outcomes, behavioural outcomes, maternal and perinatal mortality

STUDY TYPE

systematic_review

SPECIALTY

public health

SUMMARISED BY

AI pipeline

FIDELITY CHECK

100% · A

ORIGINAL PAPER

PMC10173967

Self-care interventions for preconception, antenatal, intrapartum and postpartum care: a scoping review

BMJ Open

READ THE FULL PAPER

ABSTRACT

Abstract Objective To identify current and emerging self-care interventions to improve maternity healthcare. Design Scoping review. Data sources MEDLINE, Embase, EmCare, PsycINFO, Cochrane CENTRAL/CDSR, CINAHL Plus (last searched on 17 October 2021). Eligibility criteria Evidence syntheses, interventional or observational studies describing any tool, resource or strategy to facilitate self-care in women preparing to get pregnant, currently pregnant, giving birth or post partum. Data extraction/synthesis Screening and data collection were conducted independently by two reviewers. Self-care interventions were identified based on predefined criteria and inductively organised into 11 categories. Characteristics of study design, interventions, participants and outcomes were recorded. Results We identified eligible 580 studies. Many included studies evaluated interventions in high-income countries (45%) and during antenatal care (76%). Self-care categories featuring highest numbers of studies were diet and nutrition (26% of all studies), physical activity (24%), psychosocial strategies (18%) and other lifestyle adjustments (17%). Few studies featured self-care interventions for sexual health and postpartum family planning (2%), self-management of medication (3%) and self-testing/sampling (3%). Several venues to introduce self-care were described: health facilities (44%), community venues (14%), digital platforms (18%), partner/peer support (7%) or over-the-counter products (13%). Involvement of health and community workers were described in 38% and 8% of studies, who supported self-care interventions by providing therapeutics for home use, training or counselling. The most common categories of outcomes evaluated were neonatal outcomes (eg, birth weight) (31%), maternal mental health (26%) and labour outcomes (eg, duration of labour) (22%). Conclusion Self-care interventions in maternal care are diverse in their applications, implementation characteristics and intended outcomes. Many self-care interventions were implemented with support from the health system at initial stages of use and uptake. Some promising self-care interventions require further primary research, though several are matured and up-to-date evidence syntheses are needed. Research on self-care in the preconception period is lacking. Keywords: Antenatal, PUBLIC HEALTH, SEXUAL MEDICINE, REPRODUCTIVE MEDICINE, Maternal medicine, Health policy

CITATION EXPORT

Phi-Yen Nguyen, Cassandra Caddy, Alyce N Wilson et al.. Self-care interventions for preconception, antenatal, intrapartum and postpartum care: a scoping review. BMJ Open. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-068713

AUTHORS

10 · 5 CENTRES

Phi-Yen Nguyen, Cassandra Caddy, Alyce N Wilson, Kara Blackburn, Matthew J Page, A Metin Gülmezoglu, Manjulaa Narasimhan, Mercedes Bonet, Özge Tunçalp, Joshua P Vogel

1Methods in Evidence Synthesis Unit, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
2International Development, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
3School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
4Concept Foundation, Geneva, Switzerland
5Department of Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland